The Life of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s 94 Birthday

American civil rights leader and minister, the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. poses in his vestments as pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala., in the mid-1950s.

New York Times Co./Getty Images

Martin Luther King Jr.'s 94 Birthday

American civil rights leader and minister, the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. poses in his vestments as pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala., in the mid-1950s.

New York Times Co./Getty Images

Martin Luther King Jr.'s 94 Birthday

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. giving a sermon, circa 1960, in Alabama.

Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Martin Luther King Jr.'s 94 Birthday

Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. relaxes at home with his wife Coretta and first child Yolanda in May 1956 in Montgomery, Ala.

Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Martin Luther King Jr.'s 94 Birthday

Martin Luther King Jr. speaks after meeting with President John F. Kennedy in Washington, D.C., Oct. 16, 1961. King met with Kennedy to gain the president's support for the civil rights movement.

Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Martin Luther King Jr.'s 94 Birthday

American clergyman and civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. is surrounded by people during a public address in Birmingham, Alabama, 1962 .

Ernst Haas/Getty Images

Martin Luther King Jr.'s 94 Birthday

The Rev. Ralph Abernathy, left, and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., right, are taken by a policeman as they led a line of demonstrators into the business section of Birmingham, Ala., on April 12, 1963.

AP Photo

Martin Luther King Jr.'s 94 Birthday

Benjamin R. Epstein, national director of the Anti-Defamation League B'nai B'rith, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, Roy Wilkins of the NAACP and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson outside the White House, June 1963.

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Martin Luther King Jr.'s 94 Birthday

American Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. speaks at a rally held at the Robert Taylor Houses in Chicago, in the 1960s.

Robert Abbott Sengstacke/Getty Images

Martin Luther King Jr.'s 94 Birthday

Civil rights leader Martin Luther King waves to supporters Aug. 28, 1963, on the Mall in Washington, D.C., during the March on Washington. King said the march was "the greatest demonstration of freedom in the history of the U.S."

AFP/Getty Images

Martin Luther King Jr.'s 94 Birthday

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. sits at a table during The Nation Institute California Conference circa 1965 in Los Angeles.

Martin Mills/Getty Images

Martin Luther King Jr.'s 94 Birthday

Martin Luther King Jr.'s 94 Birthday

Dr. Martin Luther King waves to the crowds as he drives in a motorcade on the way to make a speech at the Illinois Rally for Civil Rights at Soldier Field on June 21, 1964 in Chicago, the same day civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner were murdered in Philadelphia, Miss.

Ted Williams/Getty Images

Martin Luther King Jr.'s 94 Birthday

Martin Luther King Jr. leads a protest march to the courthouse in Montgomery, Ala., on March 17, 1965. From left are Ralph Abernathy, James Forman, Martin Luther King Jr., Rev. S.L. Douglas and John Lewis.

AP Photo

Martin Luther King Jr.'s 94 Birthday

American civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King and his wife Coretta Scott King lead a black voting rights march from Selma, Ala., to the state capital in Montgomery, March 30, 1965.

William Lovelace/Getty Images

Martin Luther King Jr.'s 94 Birthday

Civil rights leader Andrew Young, left, and others are seen on the balcony of Lorraine Motel pointing in direction of the assailant after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., with his body lying at their feet, April, 4, 1968, Memphis, Tenn.

oseph Louw/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Martin Luther King Jr.'s 94 Birthday

Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. is lying in state in Memphis, Tenn., as his colleagues pay their respects to him. The Rev. Ralph Abernathy, left, Bernard Lee, center Andrew Young, right, are showing their respect.